Devotions - Prayer
. ..Having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 2 Peter 1:4
Banish forever any thought of indulging the flesh if you want to live in the power of your risen Lord. It is absurd for a man who is alive in Christ to dwell in the corruption of sin.
- “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” said the angel to the women.
- Should the living dwell in the tombs? Should divine life be imprisoned in the burial ground of fleshly lust?
- How can we partake of the cup of the Lord and yet drink the cup of the devil?
- Surely, believer, from blatant lusts and sins you are delivered, but have you also escaped from those that are more secret and delusive?
- Have you left behind the lust of pride?
- Have you escaped from laziness?
- Have you given up trusting in earthly things?
- Are you seeking each day to live above worldliness, the pride of life, and the ensnaring grip of greed?
Remember, it is in order that you might know such victory that you have been enriched with the treasures of God.
If you are really the chosen of God, and beloved by Him, do not allow all this lavish treasure of grace to be wasted on you. Pursue holiness; it is the Christian’s crown and glory.
An unholy church is useless to the world and of no esteem among men. It is an abomination, hell’s laughter, heaven’s disgust. The worst evils that have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church.
O Christian, the vows of God are upon you.
- You are God’s servant: Act as such.
- You are God’s king: Reign over your lusts.
- You are God’s chosen: Do not associate with Satan.
- Heaven is your portion: Live like a heavenly spirit, and in this way you will prove that you have true faith in Jesus, for there cannot be faith in the heart unless there is holiness in the life.
Lord, I desire to live as one Who bears a blood-bought name, As one who fears but grieving Thee,And knows no other shame. Help me renew my mind with TRUTH!
Read Romans 12:1-3. 1Thess. 4:4.
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WE CHOOSE TO LOVE
John 18:23 “Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?”
The importance of sharing the truth of God.
*Reading His book, The Bible daily has taught me to walk in Him so that He guides me and shows me the correct and righteous path.
God’s kind of love is not self-serving or self-seeking.
Agape love will cause a person to lay down his life for another (Jn. 15:13), because he has literally forgotten himself.
Many times when heroes are asked why they put themselves in jeopardy to save someone else, they reply that they didn’t even think about themselves. All they thought of was the danger to the other person. That’s God’s kind of love.
God’s type of love involves emotions many times, but it is Not an emotion.
To experience “living hope” on a daily basis we must “love one another deeply (1 Peter 1:22, 4:8).” This means growing from brotherly love (philia-defined by feelings) to unconditional love (agape—defined by Actions).
***God’s Love is an act of the will.
*We can choose to love even when we don’t feel like it and we can always conduct ourselves in a godly manner, when we feel God’s kind of love.
*God’s kind of love is a choice.
*God’s kind of love is also the antidote to selfishness and pride. We cannot conquer self by focusing on self.
**The only way to win over self is to fall in love with God more than with ourself.
*It is in discovering God’s love that we lose self love.
Jesus didn’t feel some emotional sensation when He chose to die for us, but that was the greatest demonstration of God’s kind of love that the world has ever seen. He made a choice in spite of His emotions.
Because He was consumed with God’s love, He acted properly, even when His emotions didn’t agree.
Jesus is the ultimate example of God’s kind of love! READ: (Jn. 3:16-20)
The cross is the greatest revelation of God’s love for the most unworthy beings — you and me.
O’ Lord, Your Truth has no error. The only error is our body and mind where we tend to fail You but You are ever forgiving and you teach us to be humble and follow in Your ways. Help us in these days of such need. In Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!
Read More“But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” – Matthew 7:26
A wise man:
* Hears and pays attention to Gods word.
* He yields his heart to the instruction of other believers.
* He speaks Gods word to others and has conversations with others.
* A Godly man is able to teach and is teachable.
* He applies what he learns or gleans.
* Wisdom becomes the application of knowledge.
*He seeks to build and establish something that will last and is not temporary.
There were two kinds of people in the days of Jesus.
1. Some heard the words that Jesus spoke and were awed by His wisdom and understanding, but did nothing about what they heard.
2. Others heard those words and acted on them.
Jesus said that those who heard the words but failed to put them into practice were foolish and likened them to building a house on sand.
How foolish, indeed, it would be to build a house on sand.
The person who followed what Jesus taught was a person who would be sure to weather life’s storms.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).
You never know how well your house is built until it is tested by the elements.
*Torrential rains reveal the quality of your roof.
*Wind and cold reveal how well your home is insulated.
*Heat and sun reveal the quality of your paint and siding.
All these elements reveal whether a solid foundation has been laid to make your home a secure and lasting place to live.
*Many of us find that we have given only lip service to God’s commands.
*We are faced with the reality that our foundations are not strong enough to weather life’s storms.
When God sends a storm it’s to expose what’s not sturdy. Some of this stuff was pretty but not sturdy.
Lord, I pray –Knowing You are always listening.
Philippians 4:6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Thank You Jesus! Amen
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“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Psalm 34:5
Perhaps the simplest way to understand shame is to think back on a moment when you experienced it.
You may have felt embarrassment, discomfort or self-consciousness.
Shame can also express itself in much weightier emotions, like when we feel humiliated, inadequate, injured or abused.
So many people live under the weight of shame without realizing it because we’ve been conditioned by culture and life experience to accept that feeling as normal.
Shame is simply always there; it’s that familiar yet profound feeling that we don’t measure up.
• Maybe you regularly view life through the lens of other people’s expectations (real or imagined), and you’re beginning to buckle under the pressure.
• Perhaps a friend betrayed you, one of your parents was emotionally or physically absent, or your loved one has a secret addiction, and you think it’s all somehow your fault.
• Maybe you’re stressed about your children and how you handle things at home.
The voice in your head says, I’m not a very good mothe/fatherr. Maybe you feel like a failure because life got hard, and now your dreams seem out of reach, or you just don’t know who you are anymore.
Maybe you go through life with ever-present feelings of inadequacy; you worry what other people would think if they knew the real you. Shame lurks in all of these things.
In spite of the overwhelming nature of shame, there is good news. The promise of Scripture is that when we look to God, He transforms our shame into something beautiful — a sparkling, splendorous joy.
It may take time, and there may always be moments in life when we experience shame, but when our identity is centered in Christ — not only knowing who we are in Christ, but knowing who He is in us — we can discard the dark covering of shame and rise in radiance. In other words, we may have shame, but in Jesus, shame no longer has us.
Whether you’re simply having a “not enough” moment, or you’ve been hiding in shame for years, have hope. You can overcome shame, because your Overcomer(Jesus at the Cross) already has for YOU!
1 Peter 2:6, “For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’”
Dear heavenly Father, I praise You because You not only remove my shame, You faithfully transform it into something beautiful and new. And while I don’t fully understand it, I know You have the power to help me overcome shame because You’ve already done so on the cross. Open my heart to experience Your love and mercy. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Spiritual Warfare Verses: John 12:31, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57,
1 John 4:4, Ephesians 6:1-16, Philippians 3:10 and 1 John 5:4.
Read MoreNow about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. – 1 Corinthians 12:1
In First Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, the apostle Paul is teaching us about the role of spiritual gifts in the Church.
Paul correlates these gifts to a human body, telling us that each person’s gift helps the whole Body of the Church.
This is such an important principle for us to learn.
* I have learned their spiritual gifts of discernment are of great value in determining strategic direction.
*I have learned that God has placed within each person a spiritual gift that is designed to make the Body of Christ function better for His purposes.
**When we discover the spiritual gifts God has placed in those around us, we are better able to see the Body function as a real body-totally dependent on one another.
*Some of us are more sensitive to God’s voice because God has gifted us in that way.
*Others of us are less sensitive because God wants us to depend on others in the Body for their gifts.
Find out whom God has placed around you today and discover a new dimension of spiritual productivity.
“For I am determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2
*God can do exceedingly great things through one man or woman who is willing to be obedient to God’s voice.
Ask for His grace today to be obedient to His voice.”And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands” (2 John 6).
*Love produces obedience that produce a strong relationship.
The more time you give to someone, the more you reveal their importance to you.
*The best way to spell love is T-I-M-E.
*The best use of life is love
In Scripture I have noticed that love is an action, never a feeling. Love may generate feelings, but feelings are always the result, never the content of love.
Lord, transform me, through obedience, into a person who loves You more today than I did yesterday and who loves others more today than I did yesterday. May Your Spirit renew my mind each and every minute of the day to become more and more like You- till Your return. Amen
Read MoreProverbs 5:11–14 At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly [or the church].”
Those are the words of somebody who has known the way of righteousness for many years, somebody that is seen regularly in church. Somebody who knows how to say “Amen” when the preacher says the right thing. Somebody who knows many of the hymns by heart. Somebody, maybe, who prays in public meetings. And yet, that person has never given heart obedience to the truths that he has learned.
And here he is pictured at the end of his life, realizing too late that he has missed it all – that he knew it with his head, but he never believed and obeyed it with his heart.
It is remarkable that when Jesus speaks about hypocrites, He uses particular language. He says, “The end of the hypocrites will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” I have asked myself why particularly that language about hypocrites, and I believe the answer is:
- Because they are people who have known it all, all along, but never obeyed it.
- And there is a particular bitterness in finding yourself rejected and in the midst of ruin at the end of your life when all those years you have sat in church and known the right thing, given outward assent, but your heart has never been changed.\
- You have never come to the place of true surrender, commitment and making Jesus truly Lord of your life.
Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to Know You and your Truths. Help me daily to become more and more surrendered to you. Amen
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* “…you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one…”Luke 10:42
*One thing is needed, And that’s Jesus!
Meditation is still crucial for believers today. In our culture, we are inundated by worldly values and godless priorities. Unless we guard our hearts, they will slowly begin to accept these unrighteous standards. (Ro. 1:18-26).
Therefore, we should discipline ourselves to meditate daily upon God’s Word, focusing our attention on His character and His ways. (Matthew 5: 3-8 & Ro. 12:2).
The part of the gospel that we consume and understand cannot be taken from us. The best investment ever.
Consider the investment benefit of doing so.
• Quiets our spirit and provides an avenue for God to purify our hearts
.• Develops a hunger for the Word so we can gain deeper understanding of Jesus and greater sense of His power.
• Improves our discernment about direction for our lives.
• Sharpens our awareness of His presence.
Meditation on Scripture may involve a small sacrifice of rising earlier or giving up free time during the day.
**But living a Christ-centered life filled with peace and joy depends upon our commitment to focus our minds and hearts on Him regularly.
The Christian life is not an attempt to get more faith, or more anointing, or to get closer to the Lord.
*We already have these things in their fullness.
*We just need a revelation of what is already ours.
*Understanding this takes a lot of frustration and doubt away.
Through Christ, we are already blessed with all spiritual blessings. All we have to do is appropriate what is already ours, through the renewing of our mind. (Romans 12:2)
*If you will change your thinking to believe what God says in His Word about WHO you are and WHAT you have, then your flesh will experience the life of God that has been deposited in your spirit. (Psalms 139)
Thank You God, for Your WORD- Jesus! Which is more than enough. To know that Jesus IS more than enough- is the answer to every conflict we face. Help me put on the armor of God each day as Ephesians 6 so clearly discripes-knowing the “sword” is the”Word of God” – meaning to open and read the Word daily.
Thank You Jesus!
Isaiah 41:29 Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind.
Let’s be done with “what if’s” and move forward to “what next”.
Habakkuk 2: 2 Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.
I must fix my eyes on what is unseen.
Our short lives here are sowing times so let’s you and I sow while we can. For a time is coming when the chance to store up treasure in heaven has passed. A time is coming when you and I will no longer be able to witness the truth and love of Christ to those still lost.
To Move Forward, need: Goals, Accountability and Gratification.
Goals. Don’t give up, and don’t lose faith. God’s plan in your life will take place in His timing. You were created for that purpose, as long as you are after His heart….you won’t miss it!
A goal is looking into the future and aiming in a certain direction. Attack it with your faith and submit it all to God.
1) A goal gives us direction:It gives us vision and direction. Keep your eyes on the target and fight to get it done.
2) Goals give you purpose:Have purpose for everything you do.
3) With goals you must have a plan:“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
4) Use your faith:You have the word of God. You have Jesus. You have the Holy Spirit. You have God. Get scriptures to stand on to help get past all the blocks and distractions. Even when your ready to quit, read them.
5) Commit yourself to your goals:Lift up your goals to God. Pray over your goals. If you apply yourself, commit yourself, always keep your eyes on the finish line, and don’t stop you WILL get there.
Accountability: I am accountable for my own life to God, God is going to judge ME for my life, for how I conducted my life, how I served others.
Delayed gratification.
Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Teach me Lord with Your knowledge, wisdom, truth and discernment that we may bring You the Glory! AMEN
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Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the unfaithful destroys them.
*Doing the right thing takes place over anything else.
*When doing the right thing and following the rules don’t comply, we still need to do what is morally right.
To lower your Stress–Do the right thing.
*Righteous Men and Women Hate sin.
*Righteous Men and Women follow the word of God.
Proverbs 10:9 The one who conducts himself in integrity will live securely, but the one who behaves perversely will be found out.
*Integrity is when people can trust you to do something when they are not around.
This skill helps you with friendships . Also it is very good for every day life. God tells us to be do what is right no matter if any one is watching.(God IS)
*Integrity is the state or quality over being complete, and it is freedom from corrupting influences and or motives.
*Integrity is equated with words such as honesty, completeness, and incorruptibility.
So integrity is rooted in your private world (where private thoughts are held).
*Integrity is cultivated in the private life that we develop alone with God.
*Integrity is reflected in our relationship with others.
*Integrity is also revealed in public life.
What is done in the dark will come to the light.
*Live a life that is filled with integrity and honor!
Habakkuk 2:4 Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion,but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness.
**Those who walk side ways with the devil will get their reward. Every action or behavior has a certain out come whether good or bad we will get the out come of our actions.
Luke 16:10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
Lord, help me have integrity each and every day. I pray Psalms 139:23-24 Amen
Read More“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15
The enemy of our souls has a very specific strategy to destroy relationships.
Whether these relationships are in business, marriage, or friendships, the strategy is the same.
A conflict arises, judgments are made, and feelings are hurt.
What happens next is the defining point of whether the enemy gains a foothold, or the grace of God covers the wrong.
When a root of bitterness is allowed to be planted and grown(Time does not heal all wounds!), it not only affects that person, but it also affects all others who are involved.
Root of bitterness is like a cancer (A root is a part of a tree that cannot be seen, and it will have small roots springing from it).
** Breaking Satan’s foothold requires at least one person to press into God’s grace.
*It cannot happen when either party “feels” like it, for none of us will ever feel like forgiving.
*None of us feel like talking when we have been hurt.
*Our natural response is to withdraw or lash out at the offending party.
*You have to have a forgiving heart before you can be at peace with yourself.
1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
It is only obedience that allows God’s grace to cover the wrongs incurred.
*This grace prevents the parties from becoming victims who will seek compensation for their pain.
Even Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered. Hebrews 5:8.
The next time you are hurt by someone, realize the gravity of the crossroads where you find yourself.
**Choose grace(Humility releases grace) instead of bitterness. Then you will be free to move past the hurt, and a root of bitterness will not be given opportunity to grow.
Ephesians 4:32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Dear LORD, I choose to let the struggles of life make me better and not bitter. I forgive those who have hurt me, and refuse to hold a grudge. I will look for the good in every difficult situation and think the best of others. I know that a bitter heart produces bitter fruit, and I refuse to allow my heart to get caught in that trap. Now, Lord, help me accomplish what I have just confessed. In Jesus name, amen.
“It is not what you eat–it is what eats you”
Read MoreThis Christmas Eve, I ask—
1.”What would be your best gift of all to receive?”
After much thought about material things it finally came down to: “the need to needed” and the “assurance of God’s love” for me as well as my wife and family members. ” TO BE LOVED ” WOULD BE MY GREATEST GIFT to receive.
2. “What would be your best gift to give to Others?”
My goal in this –is to give my love I have received from the Lord to others and be bold this season to Lift Up JESUS and His unconditional love He has for all that ask. “TELL OTHERS I LOVE THEM”
So my grown-up Christmas list would have one simple wish. That every person would truly understand the outrageous grace gift that God offers to each one of us. All we have to do is open that gift in faith.
Christmas is when the gift came to earth wrapped in swaddling clothes.
I wish that everyone who hears the Gospel message would comprehend the one way love that God demonstrated. Instead of turning His back on sinners who deserved just that God chose to reach out to His creation with a radical plan for forgiveness. A plan that is unlike any other religion in history.
Man made religion always demands something to earn salvation.
God’s plan for redemption requires the lost to bring nothing to the table other than their sin and the need for salvation. Nothing.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
This Christmas Serve your spouse, family and friends instead of waiting to be served by them. Everything starts with Love by responding in a Christ-like way.
Your- healthy relationships places focus on others and not yourself.
Father, open the eyes of my heart. I see that for that to happen there must be the bending of the knee, the imploring of the Spirit in prayer, so that truth becomes vital and compelling. Help me love my wife Laura and never treat her harshly. Help me Love from a Pure Heart Lord. Help me respond in a Christ-like way to love my children, Grandchildren, Family and friends. Amen
To walk with Christ is to walk in love.
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you…”Ephesians 5:1-2
Obedience To The “Heavenly Vision”
Acts 26:19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.
What is heaven’s mission “It is to spread the Gospel”
John 15:8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Today people are non-stop in their daily lives, but are we really LIVING or EXISTING?
Life with each generation seems to become busier than ever, even with technology where we thought it would accomplish more with less, well, we all know where that has taken us!
If we lose “the heavenly vision” God has given us, we alone are responsible—not God.
We lose the vision because of our own lack of spiritual growth. We put down the Word of God and that is our start of backsliding.
If we do not apply our beliefs about God to the issues of everyday life, the vision God has given us will never be fulfilled.
The only way to be obedient to “the heavenly vision” is to give our best for His glory.
Jesus was never to busy.
It is essential that we live and “walk in the light” of God’s vision for us (1 John 1:7).
Personal Ambition and Pride must die.
We learn that we do not live to build up ourselves any longer.
***We live only to be an instrument of the working of Jesus Christ. And we must learn the truth which Jesus taught his own disciples when he was here in the flesh, “Without me you can do nothing…” (John 15:5b).
You can do what? “Nothing!” You may do a lot in the eyes of the world. What you do might be esteemed there.
**But in the eyes of God, without him it is nothing.
Lord, I pray that I will learn the lesson, and that I will be willing to be a person no longer holding onto control of the program myself but quite willing to follow where you lead, and to trust in your life in me to be all that it takes to do all that needs to be done. Amen
Read MoreActs 6, the newfound church had exploded into existence and discovered their first problem: they had a great deal of money!
All of its members were selling their land and possessions to give to the needs of others, but some of the widows in dire circumstances were being overlooked.
The Holy Spirit moved the apostles’ hearts to choose seven men to solve the problem.
That job seems easy enough, doesn’t it? If I were one of the apostles, I would have called for the accountants in the church, the financiers, the treasurers, the bookkeepers – those who had experience with handling and dispersing funds. That would seem the logical choice, wouldn’t it?
But the apostles had different criteria. In Acts 6:3 we find the qualifications: “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.”
Wow! The implication here is that the men who were selected were men devoid of themselves, having been filled with the Holy Spirit.
*They were wise because they were surrendered to God, and because of this, God chose them for the task. Can you guess what happened next?
The matter was settled and the widows were taken care of from that day forth.
God doesn’t need the best-of-the-best to change the world; He can do it all by Himself.-–Yet, in His mercy and love, He has decided to allow us the opportunity to leave a mark on our sphere of influence for His glory.
*So be encouraged, friend; you don’t have to be the best-looking, the smartest, or the most talented person in the world to gain God’s approval.
READ: Acts 6:1-7
Here in this scripture we find that not just anyone was set as a leader, also the choosing of a leader wasn’t based on human standards but by Gods standards.
Amongst all the leaders they chose only the individuals which were the most filled with the Holy Spirit.
Wait!! If there is only one Holy Spirit, how can one have more than the other?
*Well the reason why one has more than the other is based on how far into God is the individuals heart.
*See how can a person that strives everyday to seek God & another that is unstable & can not stay committed be considered equal in the Spirit?
*They cant because the unstable person isn’t sure of who they are or there identity.
So if they are unstable the Holy Spirit can not be in them because they don’t believe.
**But on the other hand the individual that seeks God knows who they are, they know their identity, they will not be knocked over to easily.
**They surrender their entire heart to God, the door to their heart is wide open for the Holy Spirit to come & dwell in them & work thru them! Lets say they had Godly Values. Do we?
That is why they were chosen! So let there be no envy if one is not ordained, for it is not ones duty or time. It is not up to us but up to the Holy Spirit- it is His decision.
Let The Lord lead and guide you in the workplace and at home as a great leader and rely on him. Keep your identity in Jesus. Let Him direct you. Amen
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The Life now in our hearts is totally pure, incorruptible and holy because it is God’s Life and not our own.
“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach…” Colossians 1:21-22
Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
How do you walk in the Spirit?
*The way you do this is through living by, conducting your actions according to, and following the leading of the Word of God as quickened to you by the Holy Spirit.
*The Holy Spirit and the Word of God agree perfectly because the Holy Spirit is the one who inspired the written Word of God.
Denying the flesh will not result in walking in the Spirit.
*Walking in the Spirit will result in denying the flesh.
As we experience more of the presence and power of the Spirit of God, then the influence of the flesh is diminished.
Victory must come in this order. We don’t walk in the Spirit as a result of overcoming the flesh, rather overcoming the flesh is the result of walking in the Spirit.
Man can no more get rid of the power of the flesh on his own than he can get rid of the power of darkness without light.
*We have to receive the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives by grace and then the union with the Holy Spirit breaks the power of the flesh.
The key to breaking the dominion of the flesh is to appropriate the power of the Spirit through faith, while the flesh is still causing us problems.
Lord, Help me let the Holy Spirit lead me each hour of each day. Help me see more clearly that it is no longer I, But You that lives in me. Amen
Read MoreTaken from John Piper:
As the Hebrews were promised the land, but had to take it by force, one town at a time, so we are promised the gift of self-control, yet we also must take it by force.
The very concept of “self-control” implies a battle between a divided self. It implies that our “self” produces desires we should not satisfy but instead “control.”
We should “deny ourselves” and “take up our cross daily,” Jesus says, and follow him (Luke 9:23).
Daily our “self” produces desires that should be “denied” or “controlled.”
That path that leads to heaven is narrow and strewn with suicidal temptations to abandon the way. Therefore Jesus says, “Strive(agonize to enter through the narrow door” (Luke 13:24).
We get a taste of what is involved from Matthew 5:29, “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you.” This is the fierceness of self-control. This is what is behind the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:12, “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” Are you laying hold on the kingdom fiercely?
Paul says that Christians exercise self-control like the Greek athletes, only our goal is eternal, not temporal.
“Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Corinthians 9:25). So he says, “I pommel my body and subdue it” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
Self-control is saying no to sinful desires, even when it hurts.
But the Christian way of self-control is NOT “Just say no!” The problem is with the word “just.” You don’t just say no. You say no in a certain way: You say no by faith in the superior power and pleasure of Christ. It is just as ruthless. And may be just as painful. But the difference between worldly self-control and godly self-control is crucial. Who will get the glory for victory? That’s the issue. Will we get the glory? Or will Christ get the glory? If we exercise self-control by faith in Christ’s superior power and pleasure, Christ will get the glory.
Fundamental to the Christian view of self-control is that it is a gift. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . . self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23).
How do we “strive” against our fatal desires? Paul answers: “I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Colossians 1:29). He “agonizes” by the power of Christ not his own. Similarly he tells us, “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live” (Romans 8:13). “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). We must be fierce! Yes. But not by our might.
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31).
And how does the Spirit produce this fruit of self-control in us? By instructing us in the superior preciousness of grace, and enabling us to see and savor (that is, “trust”) all that God is for us in Jesus. “The grace of God has appeared . . . instructing us to deny . . . worldly desires . . . in the present age” (Titus 2:11–12).
When we REALLY see and believe what God is for us by grace through Jesus Christ, the power of wrong desires is broken.
Therefore the fight for self-control is a fight of faith.
“Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called” (1 Timothy 6:12). amen
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